Media as Social Institution

Bibliographic Data

ID3758381
AuthorsArt Silverblatt (Webster University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume48
Issue1
Pages35-41
Publication date2004-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764204267249
OpenAlexW2073898377
LanguageEN
Citations received25

Mass media have emerged as a social institution, assuming many of the functions formerly served by traditional social institutions such as the church, school, government, and family. However, in Western countries operating on the private-ownership model (most notably the United States), media systems were never intended to serve as a social institution. Instead, the primary objective of a privately owned media organization is to make a profit for the company. Thus, many films, television programs, and Web sites contain sexual and violent content designed to attract the largest imaginable audience. The messages contained in these programs can be confusing or disruptive to a public looking to the media for direction, purpose, and meaning. The public's reliance on the Western media for guidance and support can therefore be dangerous. Within this context, media literacy provides strategies that enable people to critically examine media messages and put media programming into meaningful perspective

Advertising · Business · Context (archaeology · Government (linguistics · Institution · Mass media · Meaning (existential · Media literacy · Media relations · Media studies · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Social Media and Politics

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